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From: gagen@bgsuvax.UUCP (kathleen gagen)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: lifespan extension.
Message-ID: <6469@bgsuvax.UUCP>
Date: 23 Oct 90 21:14:52 GMT
References: <1990Oct22.101226.22113@newcastle.ac.uk>
Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh.
Lines: 16

From article <1990Oct22.101226.22113@newcastle.ac.uk>, by william@rivendel.newcastle.ac.uk (William Coyne):
> Have any experiments ever been done in which many generations of an
> animal were prevented from breeding until they were near the upper
> end of the range of ages at which they can reproduce.
>  
> Did the researchers find that the average lifespan of those animals
> tended to increase over the generations?
>  
Selection for increased (and decreased) adult longevity has been done with
Drosophila melanogaster (the fruit fly).  Although the adults were not
prevented from breeding at earlier ages, only offspring of old individuals
were kept as parents of the next generation.  The average adult longevity
increased over the generations.  It was also significantly different from
that of lines selected for short longevity.

Kathleen Gagen